Sexual Intercourse With Child Under 10 – s 66A Crimes Act (NSW)

Charged with allegations of sexual intercourse with child under 10 is highly stressful and daunting to face. Our team of criminal defence lawyers are experts in child sexual assault cases with over 20 years experience in successfully proving their clients innocence in court. With a proven track record, they specialise in getting charges dropped early by carefully analysing the police evidence, tactfully point out all the holes in it and strategically negotiate with police.

Your Options in Court

PLEADING NOT GUILTY

You can only be guilty for the offence of sexual intercourse with child under 10 if police can prove each of the following elements of the offence in court beyond reasonable doubt:

If charged with s66A(1) sexual intercourse with child under 10:

You had sexual intercourse with the victim; and

The victim was under 10 years of age at the time.

If charged with s66A(2) sexual intercourse with child under 10 in circumstances of aggravation:

You had sexual intercourse with the victim who was under 10 years of age; and

In circumstances of aggravation, which include, any one of the following:

You intentionally or recklessly (where you realised the possibility of the harm occurring but went ahead anyway) inflicted actual bodily harm on the victim or a person nearby at the time; or

You threatened to cause actual bodily harm by means of an offensive weapon; or

At the time, you were in the company of another person(s); or

The victim was under your authority at the time; or

The victim has a serious physical injury or cognitive impairment at the time; or

The victim was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time, and you took advantage of that; or

You deprived the victim from his/her Liberty for a period before or after committing the offence; or

You broke and entered into the victims home with the intention of committing the offence

You will be found not guilty, and your charge dismissed if police are unable to prove any one of the above elements of the charge.

The police don’t need to prove that there was no consent by the victim, because consent is not considered a defence to this offence.

Defences to this charge

You will be Not Guilty if:

Mistaken identity or false complaint.

Your conduct did not involve any sexual connection with penetration to the victims genitalia, anus, nor any introduction of your penis or object into another persons mouth or anus or vagina, nor was there any cunnilingus.

Your conduct was for legitimate medical purposes.

The victim was over 10 years of age at the time.

Word against word. These cases generally come down to the victim’s word against your word in court. Generally, in those circumstances, the prosecution will have a very difficult task of convincing the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

You will be found not guilty, and your charge dismissed if any one of the above common defences apply to your case.

Our senior lawyers specialise in child sexual assault cases with over 20 years experience in successfully convincing police to drop these charges early. They have successfully proven their clients innocence countless times by thoroughly preparing every case they decide to take on. Speak to them now for advice on how to maximise your chances at strengthening your defence early.

PLEADING GUILTY

If you decide to plead guilty to an offence of sexual intercourse with child under 10, be sure you first speak to our team of lawyers who hold over 20 years experience in child sex offences. See the following critical tips and information on how to maximise your chances at getting the best possible outcome if pleading guilty.

25% Discount on punishment

Pleading guilty at the earliest time will give you a discount of up to 25% on your punishment. This causes you to receive a lighter outcome and better result by the Judge. However, the later you plead guilty to sexual intercourseAggravated with child under 10, the less the discount gets. This is why it’s critical to get early and experienced advice from an expert lawyer.

Good character references

This is a letter expressing your good character, remorse, contrition, shame and understanding of your offence for the Judge to read in order to give you leniency. Done right, it can improve your court result if it comes from friends, family, and even from you. Our team of lawyers will guide you through the process.

Negotiate to drop charges

Our team of experienced lawyers have successfully convinced police to drop child sex charges countless times for over 20 years. They are specialists in doing this and often achieve it by carefully analysing the police evidence, pointing out all the holes in it, and then strategically negotiating with police with their experience and expertise.

You can maximise your chances at achieving the same by getting a specialist lawyer to begin this process early in your case.

Negotiate facts

The police set of facts is a document expressing your offending conduct which you plead guilty to. It will be read by the Judge right before giving a punishment, and is initially drafted by police, often expressing one sided version, putting you in the worst light. This naturally results in a heavier punishment, which is why our senior lawyers often change this through thorough negotiations with police.

By changing the set of police facts to something more favourable to you, it places you in a much better light, causing a much lighter outcome and better result in court. Our team of lawyers often achieve this by extensive, tactful negotiations through a thorough knowledge of the evidence.

Psychologist reports

A court report from an experienced and respected psychiatrist or psychologist can drastically improve your court result with a much lighter outcome. The chances of this occurring is significantly increased if the report comments on your state of mind at the time, any history of being a victim of sexual abuse yourself, remorse, contrition, and shame.

Our lawyers will hand select the best suited psychologist or psychiatrist to your case, and ensure that the main points are covered in the report.

Maximum penalty

For the offence of s66A(1), the maximum punishment is a term of imprisonment of up to 25 years.

For the offence of s66A(2) in circumstances of aggravation, making it more serious, is a term of imprisonment of up to life.

The law sets a 15 years standard period of imprisonment that the court will consider for these offences if your conduct is found to be in the middle range of seriousness for this offence, determined by the Judge.

Keep it mind, however, that the Judges rarely give the maximum, and only reserve it for the most serious offenders of this kind. The standard period of 15 years imprisonment is only used as a guide, and not necessarily applies to all cases.

In determining whether your conduct fits in the middle, lowest or most serious scale of seriousness, the court looks at many factors, such as, type, extent and duration of sexual penetration, extent of harm caused, period of time that has passed etc. these factors can often be negotiated with police.

Types of penalties

The Judge will give you any one of the following types of punishment, depending on the preparation and presentation of your case (Explained in the above points):

For realistic and practical advice, with the best chances at getting the most lenient possible outcome to your case, speak to our team of criminal defence lawyers. They specialise in child sexual intercourse cases, with a proven track record of exceptional results for over 20 years.